Texas gunman threatened mother-in-law who attended church where 26 were killed
Story highlights
- The youngest victim killed was a toddler; the oldest was 77 years old
- The gunman was denied a license to carry a gun in Texas, governor says
(CNN)The
gunman who killed 26 people at a Texas church had sent threatening
texts to his mother-in-law -- who attended the church he targeted,
authorities said Monday.
Devin
Patrick Kelley had domestic problems and texted his mother-in-law as
recently as Sunday morning, not long before he carried out the largest
mass shooting in Texas history.
"We
know that he expressed anger towards his mother-in-law, who attends
this church," said Freeman Martin of Texas' Department of Public Safety.
But his mother-in-law was not inside the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs when Kelley sprayed the congregation with gunfire. The youngest killed was a 17-month-old girl, her family told CNN. The oldest was 77 years old, Martin said.
Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Law enforcement officials and forensic experts gather at the scene.
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Emergency personnel seal off the scene of the mass shooting.
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Law enforcement officers man a barricade near the church.
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Carrie
Matula embraces a woman after the shooting. Matula said she heard the
shooting from the gas station where she works across the street.
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Law enforcement officials work the shooting scene.
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
A woman prays with a man after the shooting.
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
The FBI responded to the scene of the shooting, according to Michelle Lee, spokeswoman for the FBI's San Antonio field office.
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
"My
heart is broken," said Wilson County Commissioner Albert Gamez Jr. "We
never think where it can happen, and it does happen. It doesn't matter
where you're at. In a small community, real quiet and everything, and
look at this, what can happen."
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Investigators
work at the scene of a mass shooting at the First Baptist Church in
Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday, November 5. A man opened fire
inside the small community church, killing at least 26 people.
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
People comfort each other at a community center near the scene of the deadly shooting.
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Investigators work at the scene. Victims range in age from 5 to 72 years old.
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Enrique and Gabby Garcia watch investigators at the scene.
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Law
enforcement officials gather near the First Baptist Church. The shooter
was killed after a brief chase north into neighboring Guadalupe County,
according Guadalupe County Sheriff's Office spokesman Robert Murphy.
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
A man wipes his eyes after the shooting.
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Flags are lowered to half staff at First Baptist Church following the shooting.
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Law enforcement officials and forensic experts gather at the scene.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Emergency personnel seal off the scene of the mass shooting.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Law enforcement officers man a barricade near the church.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Carrie
Matula embraces a woman after the shooting. Matula said she heard the
shooting from the gas station where she works across the street.
Hide Caption
11 of 15
Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Law enforcement officials work the shooting scene.
Hide Caption
12 of 15
Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
A woman prays with a man after the shooting.
Hide Caption
13 of 15
Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
The FBI responded to the scene of the shooting, according to Michelle Lee, spokeswoman for the FBI's San Antonio field office.
Hide Caption
14 of 15
Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
"My
heart is broken," said Wilson County Commissioner Albert Gamez Jr. "We
never think where it can happen, and it does happen. It doesn't matter
where you're at. In a small community, real quiet and everything, and
look at this, what can happen."
Hide Caption
15 of 15
Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Investigators
work at the scene of a mass shooting at the First Baptist Church in
Sutherland Springs, Texas, on Sunday, November 5. A man opened fire
inside the small community church, killing at least 26 people.
Hide Caption
1 of 15
Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
People comfort each other at a community center near the scene of the deadly shooting.
Hide Caption
2 of 15
Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Investigators work at the scene. Victims range in age from 5 to 72 years old.
Hide Caption
3 of 15
Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Enrique and Gabby Garcia watch investigators at the scene.
Hide Caption
4 of 15
Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Law
enforcement officials gather near the First Baptist Church. The shooter
was killed after a brief chase north into neighboring Guadalupe County,
according Guadalupe County Sheriff's Office spokesman Robert Murphy.
Hide Caption
5 of 15
Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
A man wipes his eyes after the shooting.
Hide Caption
6 of 15
Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Flags are lowered to half staff at First Baptist Church following the shooting.
Hide Caption
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Photos: Sutherland Springs church shooting
Law enforcement officials and forensic experts gather at the scene.
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Texas
Gov. Greg Abbott called the slaughter "the largest mass shooting" in
the state's history. But it's still unclear exactly what motivated the
killer.
"We
know that his ex- in-laws or in-laws came to church here from time to
time," Wilson County Sheriff Joe Tackitt told CNN. "They were not here
yesterday. So we don't know why he actually showed up yesterday."
Latest developments
--
Those killed ranged in age from 18 months to 77 years old, Martin said.
The toddler's family gave the girl's age as 17 months.
--
Ten of the 20 people wounded remain in critical condition Monday,
authorities said. And virtually no one at the church was left unscathed,
Tackitt said. "I think nearly everyone had some type of injury," the
sheriff told reporters Monday.
--
After Kelley left the church, he was confronted and shot by an armed
resident. After Kelley was shot, he called his father, telling him he
didn't think he was going to make it, Martin said. That's when Kelley
shot himself.
-- It was not
immediately clear whether Kelley died from the self-inflicted gunshot
wound or from the shot by the resident. "However, investigators found
evidence at the scene that indicates the subject may have died from a
self-inflicted gunshot wound," Martin said.
-- Investigators have reviewed video footage from inside the church, Martin said.
--
Speaking from Japan, President Donald Trump expressed condolences for
the victims during a Monday news conference and said he believes the shooting was caused by a "mental health problem," not an issue with US gun laws.
Who were the victims?
Annabelle Pomeroy, 14, was the daugher of the church's pastor.
The
pastor of the church was out of town when the shooting occurred, but
his daughter, 14-year-old Annabelle Pomeroy, was at the Sunday morning
service and was killed, her mother Sherri Pomeroy said.
"We
lost more than Belle yesterday, and the one thing that gives me a
sliver of encouragement is the fact that Belle was surrounded by her
church family that she loved fiercely, and vice versa," Sherri Pomeroy
said.
"Now most of our church
family is gone. Our building is probably beyond repair. ... As senseless
as this tragedy was, our sweet Belle would not have been able to deal
with losing so much family."
The church's visiting pastor was also among the dead, Sheriff Tackitt said.
So
were eight members of one family, a relative and a community leader
said. Those relatives span three generations and include a pregnant
woman and three of her children.
Many of the victims have not been publicly identified, pending notification of family members.
Who was the shooter?
The gunman has been identified as 26-year-old Devin Patrick Kelley, according to law enforcement officials.
Kelley
was a member of the US Air Force and served at Holloman Air Force Base
in New Mexico from 2010 until his discharge, according to Air Force
spokeswoman Ann Stefanek.
He was
court-martialed in 2012 for assault on his spouse and assault on their
child, according to Stefanek. He served a year in confinement, received a
bad conduct discharge and had his rank reduced, she said.
In
April 2016, Kelley purchased the Ruger AR-556 rifle he allegedly used
in the shooting from a store in San Antonio, Texas, a law enforcement
official said. There was no disqualifying information in the background
check conducted as required for the purchase, a law enforcement official
told CNN.
At one point, the
shooter tried to get a license to carry a gun in Texas but was denied by
the state, Abbott said, citing the director of Texas' Department of
Public Safety.
"So how was it that
he was able to get a gun? By all the facts that we seem to know, he was
not supposed to have access to a gun," Abbott said. "So how did this
happen?"
How the attack unfolded
The gunman was first spotted at a Valero gas station across the street from the church at about 11:20 a.m. (12:20 p.m. ET).
He drove across the street, got out and began firing even before he entered the church, Martin said.
David Flores told CNN that his father saw the shooter.
"My
dad saw the gunman run into the church building and then he heard shots
and saw people running," Flores told CNN. "People covered in blood and
screaming. It was pandemonium everywhere."
As the shooter left the church, a local resident used his own rifle to engage him, Martin said. The gunman dropped his weapon and fled.
Johnnie
Langendorff said he was driving to his girlfriend's house when he saw
the shootout between the shooter and the armed resident.
The gunman took off in a Ford Explorer, Langendorff told CNN affiliate KSAT.
The
resident "briefed me quickly on what had just happened and said we had
to get him, and so that's what I did," Langendorff said.
They
gave chase in his truck and called police. As they sped after him,
Langendorff said, the shooter "eventually lost control on his own and
went off into the ditch" in neighboring Guadalupe County.
"The
gentleman that was with me got out and rested his rifle on my hood and
kept it aimed at him [shooter], telling him to get out. There was no
movement, there was none of that. I just know his brake lights were
going on and off, so he might've been unconscious from the crash or
something like that. I'm not sure."
Sutherland Springs
Law enforcement later found the suspect dead of a gunshot wound inside his vehicle.
A
law enforcement official briefed on the investigation said multiple
weapons were found in the shooter's car. The FBI and the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are involved in the
investigation.
The grief and support
Hours
after the shooting, residents of Sutherland Springs hugged one another,
held candles and sang hymns in a vigil Sunday night. Abbott attended
the event, in which faith leaders offered words of solace and prayers.
Authorities said 4% of the small town's population was killed in the shooting.
Sutherland
Springs is the kind of place where "everybody knows everybody," said
Gloria Rodriguez Ximenez, who attended the vigil.
"This is a small, Christian town, a very small community," she said. "Everybody's united. Everybody's so close to everybody."
She knows the First Baptist Church's pastor and his family, including their daughter who died.
"I can feel the pain everybody's going through. There's so much hurt for a small town," Ximenez said.
Others echoed the feeling of shock and heartache.
"My
heart is broken," Wilson County Commissioner Albert Gamez Jr. told CNN.
"We never think where it can happen, and it does happen. It doesn't
matter where you're at. In a small community, real quiet and everything,
and look at this."
Twenty-three
people died inside the church, which has a small sanctuary with wooden
pews and red carpeting. Two died outside the church, and one at the
hospital.
The wounded are being
treated at three hospitals including the Connally Memorial Medical
Center in Floresville, University Hospital and Brooke Army Medical
Center in San Antonio.
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